As the upcoming schedule was being recited to Caleb Wilson, the rookie really didn’t need the reminder.
“It’s rough …” he said before hearing a second meeting with Boston later in the week.
“Rough” is one way to look at it for the Bulls. Gauntlet, daunting, brutal also all come to mind, starting Monday with the first of two against the Celtics this week.
Throw in two with the defending NBA Champions in the Knicks, two against the new-look 76ers, and then a home game on Nov. 11 against Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs?
Wilson and the Bulls are about to be tested.
“Every matchup is its own thing,” Wilson said. “Not every team has a Wemby, not every team has a Jayson Tatum, so every game we go out there with the approach that we need to be great players and do what we need to do because it’s about us.
“I feel like with this team we’re really well-rounded, and I feel like that’s going to be to our benefit. I like us so I’m excited for the opportunity.”
The silver lining coming out of the weekend for the Bulls? The starting group finally seemed to grasp some cohesion. Enough so that coach Tiago Splitter believed enough in the group to try and finish the game against the Wizards with them.
That wasn’t the case Friday afternoon in Milwaukee when Splitter benched the likes of Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey for the hot hands of Isaac Okoro and Tre Jones. Yet, against the Wizards in that final stanza it was Giddey’s play-making, evident by his six assists and plus-10 in plus/minus in the fourth, and Buzelis, who chipped in with nine points, that contributed to the attempted comeback.
Contributed, but not lead it.
No, that was the 20-year-old rookie in Wilson who scored 11 of his 30 points, grabbed five rebounds and handed out two assists. The second-straight game in which Wilson was the focal point in crunch time.
“I feel like it shows that we have fight, but we put ourselves in that position,” Wilson said of the late-game push against Washington. “I wouldn’t say I’d give us a moral victory but it’s good to know the character of the guys we have on this team.”
Character that is about to be tested by arguably the toughest stretch the Bulls (1-2) will likely have this season.
Wilson understands that but is also trying to embrace it.
If the starting unit can continue to build the connectivity they showed against Washington that will go a long way in trying to navigate the next seven games.
“Just an unselfishness, being able to move the ball, being able to trust each other,” Wilson said about the starting unit growing. “That’s all that really happened and it led to a really good start, but you got to do it for 48 minutes.”
One positive in facing Boston, New York and Philadelphia? None of their starting units goes with a double-big lineup. Washington had Anthony Davis and Alex Sarr starting at the same time, staggering in Deandre Ayton.
The Celtics start Mitchell Robinson in the middle but it’s more about the versatile wings in Paul George and Tatum. The Knicks have length up front with Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges, but again, not two true bigs.
“I’m really tall but I’m on the thinner side, so I just try and run and be faster than everyone, but honestly I feel like the biggest adjustment in playing double bigs is knowing you have to box out and be physical,” Wilson said. “That was one of my biggest things (against the Wizards).”
Double bigs or no bigs, Wilson is going to have to be physical either way over the next few weeks with what’s coming.
“Like I said,” he added. “It’s going to be rough.”